Georgia Conference on Child Abuse Prevention

In 2025 the Institute for Survivor Care conducted a large sample study to understand what motivates, hinders, or helps a survivor make a permanent exit from exploitation/trafficking.  The study yielded 189 qualified responses from female victims ages 14-16 from across the U.S.  This presentation highlights the key findings from the study, including challenges to some of the assumptions that have guided the anti-trafficking field over the past two decades.  Findings illustrate the conditions of induction and retention within exploitation, but also provide a clear roadmap of what needs to be in place to effectuate exit and build resiliency from future recidivism.